I'm looking for a plastic [bag] sealer that can go round corners.

I already have a sealer like this:-

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Impulse-Sealing-Machine-Plastic-Replace/dp/B08K97DR9Z

It works very well but can only seal/weld straight lines and can't
easily be used to weld shorter joins etc.

I also have one like this:-

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Professional-Sealing-Handheld-Cookies（Battery-included）/dp/B0BHY6W8HW/

but this doesn't work so reliably as the 'big' straight-line one, nor
does it really do what I want as it can only reach a couple of inches
from the edge of the plastic film.

What I (think I) want is a welder/sealer with a longish arm and some
sort of heated wheel arrangement that you can run the two pieces of
plastic through to weld them. Basically would be like a big version of
the second device above but with slightly better control of the heat
and speed. I can't find anything like this at all. Is there such a
thing? If there is (or there's an alternative approach I'm missing)
then can someone point me in the right direction please.

--
Chris Green
·

On 31/12/2022 14:37, Chris Green wrote:
> I'm looking for a plastic [bag] sealer that can go round corners.
>
> I already have a sealer like this:-
>
> https://www.amazon.co.uk/Impulse-Sealing-Machine-Plastic-Replace/dp/B08K97DR9Z
>
> It works very well but can only seal/weld straight lines and can't
> easily be used to weld shorter joins etc.
>
> I also have one like this:-
>
> https://www.amazon.co.uk/Professional-Sealing-Handheld-Cookies（Battery-included）/dp/B0BHY6W8HW/
>
> but this doesn't work so reliably as the 'big' straight-line one, nor
> does it really do what I want as it can only reach a couple of inches
> from the edge of the plastic film.
>
>
> What I (think I) want is a welder/sealer with a longish arm and some
> sort of heated wheel arrangement that you can run the two pieces of
> plastic through to weld them. Basically would be like a big version of
> the second device above but with slightly better control of the heat
> and speed. I can't find anything like this at all. Is there such a
> thing? If there is (or there's an alternative approach I'm missing)
> then can someone point me in the right direction please.
>
Given that this is a DIY forum why not make one yourself? I haven't made
one but I suspect that all you need is a short length of resistance
wire, a USB PSU or salvaged PC PSU (experimentation required), a couple
of MDF offcuts, a hinge, a suitable switch and a way of tensioning the wire.

On Saturday, 31 December 2022 at 14:48:08 UTC, Chris Green wrote:
> I'm looking for a plastic [bag] sealer that can go round corners.
>
> I already have a sealer like this:-
>
> https://www.amazon.co.uk/Impulse-Sealing-Machine-Plastic-Replace/dp/B08K97DR9Z
>
> It works very well but can only seal/weld straight lines and can't
> easily be used to weld shorter joins etc.
>
> I also have one like this:-
>
> https://www.amazon.co.uk/Professional-Sealing-Handheld-Cookies（Battery-included）/dp/B0BHY6W8HW/
>
> but this doesn't work so reliably as the 'big' straight-line one, nor
> does it really do what I want as it can only reach a couple of inches
> from the edge of the plastic film.
>
>
> What I (think I) want is a welder/sealer with a longish arm and some
> sort of heated wheel arrangement that you can run the two pieces of
> plastic through to weld them. Basically would be like a big version of
> the second device above but with slightly better control of the heat
> and speed. I can't find anything like this at all. Is there such a
> thing? If there is (or there's an alternative approach I'm missing)
> then can someone point me in the right direction please.

I have seen machines like that with an autofeed table but they're factory priced. You could probably use a spare heating element & old transformer, or perhaps one from an impulse type, to make something. A wheel has to run hotter because the flat surface on an impulse has more dwell time than you'd get from a moving wheel. (You can also drive some metal blades from a soldering gun, one plus a wide curved wire blade might just be all you need.)

I've never had any difficulty doing shorter welds with the impulse, the excess plastic just hangs out the front. Presumably you want to do welds with unwelded plastic at both ends.

Chris Green wrote:

> I'm looking for a plastic [bag] sealer that can go round corners.

The product description seems fucked-up on their website (shopify error? "Liquid
error (product-form line 1): include usage is not allowed in this context")

But this sort of thing?

<https://www.teneouk.com/collections/heat-sealers/products/me-802hw-me-803hw>

Animal <tabbypurr@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Saturday, 31 December 2022 at 14:48:08 UTC, Chris Green wrote:
> > I'm looking for a plastic [bag] sealer that can go round corners.
> >
> > I already have a sealer like this:-
> >
> > https://www.amazon.co.uk/Impulse-Sealing-Machine-Plastic-Replace/dp/B08K97DR9Z
> >
> > It works very well but can only seal/weld straight lines and can't
> > easily be used to weld shorter joins etc.
> >
> > I also have one like this:-
> >
> > https://www.amazon.co.uk/Professional-Sealing-Handheld-Cookies（Battery-included）/dp/B0BHY6W8HW/
> >
> > but this doesn't work so reliably as the 'big' straight-line one, nor
> > does it really do what I want as it can only reach a couple of inches
> > from the edge of the plastic film.
> >
> >
> > What I (think I) want is a welder/sealer with a longish arm and some
> > sort of heated wheel arrangement that you can run the two pieces of
> > plastic through to weld them. Basically would be like a big version of
> > the second device above but with slightly better control of the heat
> > and speed. I can't find anything like this at all. Is there such a
> > thing? If there is (or there's an alternative approach I'm missing)
> > then can someone point me in the right direction please.
>
> I have seen machines like that with an autofeed table but they're factory
> priced.

Yes, I've seen them too but I still don't see how they would do what I
want. They seem to be aimed at doing seams parallel (and not far
from) an edge. I want to do seams away from an edge. For example I
want to stick two 10cm (or so) wide strips together in a T formation.

> You could probably use a spare heating element & old transformer,
> or perhaps one from an impulse type, to make something. A wheel has to
> run hotter because the flat surface on an impulse has more dwell time than
> you'd get from a moving wheel. (You can also drive some metal blades from
> a soldering gun, one plus a wide curved wire blade might just be all you
> need.)
>
> I've never had any difficulty doing shorter welds with the impulse, the
> excess plastic just hangs out the front. Presumably you want to do welds
> with unwelded plastic at both ends.
>

--
Chris Green
·

Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> wrote:
> Chris Green wrote:
>
> > I'm looking for a plastic [bag] sealer that can go round corners.
>
> The product description seems fucked-up on their website (shopify error? "Liquid
> error (product-form line 1): include usage is not allowed in this context")
>
> But this sort of thing?
>
> <https://www.teneouk.com/collections/heat-sealers/products/me-802hw-me-803hw>
>
That's *exactly* the sort of thing I was hoping might exist, thank
you. It's a bit pricey but given that their impulse sealers are also
similarly rather pricey maybe I can find a similar device (eBay,
AliExpress) for less money. Now I know that such a thing exists and I
have some sort of name/description I may have more chance of finding
one.

--
Chris Green
·